unitization and enhanced recovery techniques · unitization and enhanced recovery techniques ....

ND State Legislature

Interim Taxation Committee

Bismarck, ND April 27, 2016

Unitization and enhanced recovery

techniques

Unitization and Enhanced Oil Recovery

• Unitization Process

• Units Approved

• EOR Results

• Bakken Development

• Bakken EOR Potential

Bruce E. Hicks

Assistant Director

NDIC-DMR-OGD

Bismarck, ND

600 East Boulevard Ave. - Dept 405

Bismarck, ND 58505-0840

(701) 328-8020 (701) 328-8000

North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/ https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/



• Units Approved

• EOR Techniques & Results



Unitization Process

NDCC Sec 38-08-09.3

• Project substantially increases oil recovery

• EOR unnecessary for approval

• Voluntary and Statutory Units – both require Commission approval

Unitization—Statutory Approval

NDCC Sec 38-08-09.5

• 60% mineral interest owner approval

• 60% working interest owner approval

• NDIC approval



• Units Approved




Units Approved

• 127 Units approved – 124 EOR w/fluid injection

• Most water injection

• high pressure air (8)—fire flood

• also propane, CO2, polymers, N2, + other fluids

– 3 created to increase reserves w/o injection • Little Missouri-Pierre Unit—shallow gas reservoir

• Cedar Creek-Pierrre Unit—shallow gas reservoir

• Corral Creek-Bakken Unit

Bakken Units

• Corral Creek-Bakken Unit – Effective 1-1-2012

– 30,884 acres

– increased reserves over 5 million barrels of oil

– 81 wells originally planned

– 122 wells drilled currently

– 194 wells currently planned

– EOR not planned initially • EOR only after due notice and hearing

• Grail-Bakken Unit – 24,947 acres

– failed to achieve 60% MIO approval



• Units Approved





• Conventional Oil Reservoir

– Primary 15% recovery

– Secondary add 15% recovery

– Tertiary add 10% recovery

– 40% recovery of Original Oil in Place (OOIP)

• Unconventional Oil Reservoir – Bakken-Three Forks Formations

– 3% Primary recovery / well

– Secondary & Tertiary recovery ?

WATER INJECTION PROCESS

WATER OIL

PROD

AIR INJECTION PROCESS

BURNING

FRONT

HOT WTR

& CO2 OIL

PROD

NORTH DAKOTA – 190 DRILLING RIGS – Jan 2013


Cedar Hills South Red River B Unit

Conventional Oil Reservoir

88 original wells (1H/640)

316 million barrels OOIP

Primary: 8% recovery of OOIP

26 million bo

wells not fraced

NORTH DAKOTA – 190 DRILLING RIGS – Jan 2013 Cedar Hills South Red River B Unit

EOR initiated


Cedar Hills South-RR ”B” Unit

• EUR w/o EOR = 26 mil bo

• current Incremental = 74 mil bo

• current oil cum = 101 mil bo

Incremental Oil Determination

• establish historical decline

• project baseline decline w/o EOR

• calculate oil above the base

Incremental oil due to EOR

Cedar Hills South Red River B Unit



• Units Approved


• Bakken Development—encourages EOR – Uniform Spacing—orderly development

– Energy Corridors


Six Wells on a Single Pad

Vern Whitten Photography

Well density is the big question

Source: Continental Resources

Bakken Fm

Three Forks Fm


NORTH DAKOTA – 191 DRILLING RIGS – DECEMBER 2014

Current drilling activity is focused

in Mountrail, Dunn, McKenzie, and Williams Counties.


NORTH DAKOTA – 35 DRILLING RIGS – MARCH 2016



NORTH DAKOTA – 27 DRILLING RIGS – APRIL 2016



907 non-completed

wells (Feb 2016)

2009 8-10 wells / yr / rig

2016 20-24 wells / yr / rig

WELLS

• 13,012 wells producing (Feb 2016)

• 10,898 Bakken (84%)

• 40,000 additional development wells

• 100 rigs – another 20 years

• Bakken Pool: 4 targets = more wells



• Units Approved




Bakken/Three Forks EOR Potential

• Pilot projects – CO2 injection

– water injection

– projects small-scale and usually inconclusive

– further testing must be conducted

• > 300 billion barrels OOIP – every 1% of EOR = 3 billion barrels

(note: cum oil prod from 1951-2015 = 3.3 bil bo)

Reclaimed Location

unitization and enhanced recovery techniques · unitization and enhanced recovery techniques ....

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